Sunday, December 25, 2016

A Week in Writing #122

Getting near the end of the year is always the time to be looking back on what you've accomplished and what still needs to be done. Maybe I'm a week early here, but that doesn't mean I won't be doing more soul-searching next week as well.

One thing 2016 has driven home is the frailty of existence. I won't try to name all of the artists who have died this past year, but it does make you want to get on with things. Waiting sucks, there is no other way to put it. And while you're waiting, another day, week or month that you could have been doing something gets ticked off, and like money you spend, you don't get it back.

The fact that it has taken more than a year and we're not even finished with the first two issues of PowerSquared makes me feel more impatient than ever. I don't really blame Paul or myself for the delays in getting the work done. We try to turn around our comments within a day or two of receiving work, which sometimes gets us into trouble as we have overlooked details that we've had to have fixed later when we might have seen if we weren't in so much of a hurry.

I might be satisfied if we were a few days or even weeks away from finishing, but we are not. So much has to be redone before the comic would be publishing worthy, that it's not really funny. We're going to have to shake up the creative team, probably before the new year, because things can not go on as they have been; we will never get it done if we don't. Even though it feels like a vanity project, that is not the intent. This has been a learning experience for me, as I now know better what not to do.

Well, that's enough about what's wrong with the comic book. When we make changes I'll be more forthcoming.

Did write a one-shot this week for it, showing how Marty and Eli meet Mocha. While we touch upon this moment in the second issue, I wanted to show it more from her point of view, which this one-shot would do. When I had the idea it didn't take more than a couple of nights this past week to get a good draft done. I'm sure there'll be more rewrites, especially if we get closer to doing it, but I think it tells what I want it to and with minimal dialogue. I know I'm wordy as a writer, but sometimes I try to write with minimal dialogue and this is one of those cases. Another one to put aside until the time is right.

Well, the time is right, I guess, to end this post. I'll be writing more next week as I look back on my year in writing. Until then, Happy Holidays to the dozen of you that read this. Thanks for your continued support.

Sunday, December 18, 2016

A Week in Writing #121

Another sort of blah week in writing, that is until tonight. Can't say I really got off the snide this week. The project at work is hard to shake, though I think it should be close to done in a day or so and I know I've said that a few times this past month or so. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but they keep making the tunnel a little longer. But the end is in sight.

The holidays are pretty involving, though I'm starting to feel behind on that front as well. But that's a story for a different blog.

Things are starting to happen with the comic book. One of my goals was to improve our creative team and that seems to be moving forward. Have a couple of very good prospects. Not sure yet if we've found the right person, the price is a consideration, but I'm thinking we're getting close. But it's a necessary change if we're going to move forward.

Our search for a new logo seemed stalled. My nephew couldn't find anyone to take the job at the end of the year. So he ended up doing four versions for us. All of them are pretty good, but we're a little split on which one to use. I'm hoping I might be able to get the comic industry guy to take a look since it was his idea to get a new one.

The cover for the second issue is also coming along. Our artist has taken a few shots at doing one and I think we're at least moving forward on it, though I don' think we're there yet.

Found myself with a free evening and spent it updating my list of agents to submit to. Checked on the one I have being read by an agent and so far no word. It's only been three months and a full manuscript is supposed to take six months. That's such a long time to wait, though I'm sure it's not all that long if you're the agent with an inbox full of queries and manuscripts to go through.

Published two reviews this weekend. One was the standard Saturday morning review, this time Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962). We have one more to go in that survey of adaptations of Charles Dickens' classic. Also published a review of Rogue One; that one in an effort to stay current. The blog celebrated its sixth anniversary today with the publishing of  Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain by its founder, Paul.

The upcoming week will be busy, but I'm not sure how much writing I'm going to get done. Still so much to do for the upcoming holiday. All I can do is try my best when the opportunity arises.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

A Week in Writing #120

New week and the same story I'm afraid. Working late again at the office and Christmas to blame this time around. But there are really no excuses for not getting anything really done.

No other writing again, I know this is starting to sound like a broken record and only a little progress on the comic book. The artist finally finished the last two pages and has started preliminary work on the cover. He's actually pushing us to give feedback, which is kind of new. On the other hand, our colorist as sort of gone AWOL. He's one of those you have to push to get pages back. Not sure why that is, but that's been my experience.

Still waiting on getting a new logo drawn. Not sure what the hold up is, but I waited two weeks before pinging about it, but I wasn't pinged back. I'll go ahead and say "he's probably really busy" which is the standard excuse you're supposed to make. Still it's a little frustrating not to hear back, but that's become my mantra, hasn't it?

I had high hopes that we would be done with the second issue by the end of the year. Six months seems like more than ample time to get 20 pages drawn and colored, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards for us. I had put off a meeting with someone who had shown an interest in our story, hoping to be done before we talk, but I had to go ahead and start that process without being done. I'm really disappointed and a little miffed that it seems to be taking extra long to get this completed. Not sure if this is typical for first timers, but things will have to change if this is to be a sustainable project. I feel like I've said that before and it's not a threat, but a promise.

Did manage to complete one review and get pretty far along with another one. Watched the fourth and final version of A Christmas Carol on Friday, this one is the 1984 TV version starring George C. Scott. Published our second review on Saturday, A Christmas Carol (1951) aka Scrooge.

When I started this blog, a thousand words a day seemed easy, but lately getting anything done has become quite a challenge. I'm not throwing in the towel, but I really want to double down in the weeks ahead.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

A Week in Writing #119

Another week and little to show for it I'm afraid. I can give you a lot of excuses, working a little late one or two nights and a Thursday night Dallas Cowboys game and before you know it the week is practically over. So once again I didn't get to much of anything past the comic book. If that sounds like a recurring theme, it is.

And the progress on that is due to some redraws that we had the artist do when we noticed that watches were prominent on some pages and then excluded on others. It may sound like we're being picky, but we really do try to keep the continuity straight. If it bothers us, then it will no doubt bother someone else.

The colorist redid some of the pages, even though we tried to tell him to hold off until the artist was done with his work. So more delays in getting this issue done. It really bothers me that it will take more than a year to get two issues done. We're going to move forward with a third issue, so I'm hopeful we can get things moving a little faster. Otherwise, we're going to have to make changes to the creative team.

Did get some more advice on the comic book; a referral from someone. The advice was more general in nature and not directly related to the book itself. What I got out of it was that it's going to be tough, but I kind of figured that already. We have to have finished goods before anything else can really happen.

While the comic book seems to dominate my creative time, there was some other writing done this week for Trophy Unlocked. Most Christmases we publish reviews of holiday and holiday-related films. Last year, we concentrated on Star Wars, but this year we're back to the basics. Published the first of four reviews on films and TV specials adapted from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Started with the 1938 MGM film starring Reginald Owen.

In the spirit of the season and the blog, watched and reviewed Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, a little under 2700 words written over Saturday and Sunday. Look for it in a couple of weeks. One more film to view and review, but that won't be until the weekend.

Did have a thought about Familiar Stranger, so that oft put off rewrite is still on my mind. I'm hoping I can get to it again soon, but that will have to wait for another week in writing.